Cross and Tax Practitioners Board

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (the Tribunal) considered applications for review of decisions made by the Tax Practitioners Board (the Board) to terminate the registration of the First Applicant as an individual tax agent and the Second Applicant as a partnership tax agent. The Board's decisions were based on findings that the First Applicant had breached subsections 30-10(1) (honesty and integrity) and 30-10(7) (competence) of the Code of Professional Conduct under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA). Consequently, the Board was not satisfied that the First Applicant was a fit and proper person for registration, and as the First Applicant was a partner in the Second Applicant, the partnership also ceased to meet the registration requirements.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the First Applicant was a fit and proper person for registration, and if not, what sanction was appropriate. It also had to consider whether the First Applicant had breached the Code of Professional Conduct and, if so, what action or sanction should be imposed. For the Second Applicant, the Tribunal needed to ascertain if it continued to meet the registration requirements, specifically if each individual partner was a fit and proper person, and if not, what sanction was appropriate. The Tribunal also had to consider whether the Second Applicant had breached the Code and the appropriate sanction.

The Tribunal's reasoning centred on the provisions of TASA concerning the termination of registration for partnerships and the Code of Professional Conduct. Section 40-10(1)(a) of TASA permits the Board to terminate a partnership's registration if it ceases to meet registration requirements, including the fitness and properness of its partners. The Code mandates that registered tax agents must act honestly and with integrity (s 30-10(1)) and provide services competently (s 30-10(7)). The Board's investigation revealed that the First Applicant had lodged at least 125 self-managed super fund annual returns with false declarations, indicating a failure to act honestly and with integrity, and a lack of competence.

The Tribunal varied the Board's decisions. It found that the First Applicant was not a fit and proper person and had breached the Code. The Tribunal terminated the First Applicant's registration and imposed a period of 5 years during which he could not apply for registration. For the Second Applicant, the Tribunal also terminated its registration and imposed a period of 5 years during which it could not apply for registration.